Why is the disaster especially heavy in Haiti, than in any earthquake of similar intensity? What is there in the conduct of the state that caused this?
Hispaniola - the second largest island among the Caribbean islands lies east of Cuba. The western third of the island of Hispaniola is the territory of the country of Haiti (the other two thirds are the territory of the Dominican Republic).
After the arrival of the Spanish to the island of Hispaniola, its original inhabitants, the Taino people (originating from South America), were exterminated and replaced by European settlers (Spanish) and their African slaves, a process that was completed by the middle of the 16th century.
The Caribbean islands became a central point for equipping and organizing for the transatlantic voyages of the Spanish conquest of South America. As a result of the large booty that passed through the new trade routes, the Caribbean Sea became in the 40s a place where gangs of English, French and Dutch pirates operated. During this period, the governments of the European powers used to hunt down sailors with "letters of authorization", allowing them to rob any ship belonging to any other power. These adventurers were called 'privateers', and the Caribbean Sea was an accepted field for their activities.
In 1697, the European powers reached an agreement known as the Treaty of Ryswick, after the end of the War of the Great Alliance in which the League of Augsburg, which included Spain, Holland, England and Austria, fought against France. According to the terms of the agreement, the western third of Hispaniola, which was already under French influence, was transferred to France. The rest of the island remained in the hands of Spain. This agreement is the basis for the division of the island nowadays between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The French tyranny lasted 100 years until the first uprising (1791), which was suppressed by a military force of 16000 soldiers sent by Napoleon to suppress the rebellion. 11 years later the struggle resumed (1802) and this time the slave revolt was successful. In 1805, Dessalines crowned himself Emperor Jacques I - and introduced a semi-feudal system. In order to eliminate the threat of French invasion, on July 11, 1825, Boyer signed an undertaking according to which Haiti would pay France a sum of 150 million francs within five years, and in return France would recognize Haiti as a sovereign state. Although this amount was reduced in 1838 to 60 million francs, it was still a heavy obligation, which the poor and war-torn island could not meet.
The island's economy regressed to a basic agricultural economy, and the semi-feudal system, introduced by Dessalines, in which every able-bodied person was forced to work in the plantations as a serf, remained in force despite Bouillard's desire to change it.
Until 1915 when the Americans occupied the island, the system did not change and the power was transferred from one admirer to another, and repeated itself with the end of the occupation in 1934. After the coup that ousted Magloire in 1956, a series of weak governments arose, after which Dublia was elected president in 1957.
During the election campaign, he frequently used military gangs, assassinations and, above all, an attempt to challenge the power of the mulatto elite on the island. To terrorize his rivals for power, Dublia organized a secret police called the Tontons Macoutes - and revived voodoo traditions, often presenting himself as a voodoo priest himself.
In 1964, following elections he organized in which he won an absolute majority (no one voted against him, so to speak), he declared himself "president for life".
After his death, in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude, came to power and eased the burden of government a little in order to gain status in the international community and aid from the United States. In 1986, Jean-Claude was removed from his seat and exiled to France. The army chief, Henry Nampi, led a national government that prepared a new constitution, which was adopted by a large majority in March 1987.
In December 1990, elections were held once again and this time Reverend Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected with a majority of more than two-thirds of the votes. However, in August 1991, 83 members of parliament voted against him and only 11 voted for him. A month later there was a military coup that removed Aristide from his position. Following this, the international community activated an embargo on Haiti which lasted until October 15, 1994, the day Aristide was reinstated to his position after a three-year exile. In 1995, elections were held which were boycotted by most of the parties and only 30% of those with the right to vote participated in them.
Only 1997% of voters participated in the elections held in April 10.
Haiti's dry historical story covers 300 years of oppression and suffering, the black majority and the multiracial minority have never had a day of peace. 300 years of tyrannical regimes (external and internal), years of isolation from the world - years of commercial sanctions of the world, executions, rape of women, a lifetime of hunger, poverty, disease, death at a young age. 60% unemployment - substandard living - 20% inflation.
Extremes between a narrow layer of the rich and the majority of the poor, 1% of the population owns 60% of the land and is responsible for 44% of the GNP. A minimum wage of about 2.5 dollars per day.
Where could these people run from the earthquake? A minority of welfare services - even population registration is not available to locate victims. Hospitals lack equipment and are outdated.
And the world, as usual, stood by - and as usual will continue - in a week we will forget everything - just as we have already forgotten the tsunami and Bangala Dash and Biafra and all the places that the divine powers of billions of human beings who have no past, present or future...
* Guest writer.
For the previous news: An earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale hit Haiti and caused great destruction and a high number of deaths
22 תגובות
Michael
I'm trying to recruit you to the fight.
By the way, an urgent discussion was scheduled in the Knesset on the issue of grazing land
A few thousand words and hours will be wasted
and will return to the subsidized buffet
Please note, the disaster that happened only harmed the person and his family members, and as hard as it is to say from an environmental point of view, the trend is the opposite.
This place was paradise before the first Spaniard set foot in it...
To Michael
As a former chronic sinusitis sufferer, my heart goes out to you.
For me, the problem was solved then, when I suffered from the disease, by antibiotics.
But the more fundamental cure was found for the disease only after I stopped the hobby of diving. Since then the sinusitis has not returned.
Friends, the question that bothers me now is….
What will be our fate, in Israel, on the day when an earthquake similar in strength to the one that happened in Haiti occurs here.
Will about 50% of the houses collapse here too?
After all, all the houses built until the end of the seventies are of low standards.
And what about those "modern" houses whose foundations are indeed strong but whose roofs are loose? After all, when a roof falls on its occupants, what will its strong foundations do for them?
After all, all the authorities know that the disaster of the earthquake is near and coming, and no one does
doing something Where is the Ministry of National Infrastructures, the Ministry of Defense, Defense
The home front, and more and more... all of them disclaim responsibility, take no initiative, put the public to sleep and bring us safely closer to the certain disaster.
Dear Avi Blizovsky,
As a journalist, take the initiative, organize an interview, not one, several, maybe a debate, a symposium,...something that might make waves in the media, don't hesitate to contact anyone with a position or status in the public. It's time, the topic is hot.
Maybe there is a chance to move something in our tired administration. There is a chance (maybe not high but higher than zero) that you will both influence and profit. Successfully.
What's up with you people - disasters and death is a natural part of our world
And yet every time a disaster falls on a country, everyone is shocked and looking for culprits...
Understand and internalize - death is inevitable whether it is from hunger or poverty or some kind of disaster
Those people brought it upon themselves because instead of fighting the government in order to improve Ramat
They just lived their lives and kept a low profile, hoping for the best...
Today the value of a person's life is directly related to his ability to spend money
More money = a higher value of life, and everyone who recently chose a democratic-capitalist government basically agreed with this answer. Now instead of being stunned, start thinking about what we will do in the earthquake that will destroy our country, you probably all forgot that Israel is right on the Syrian-African divide, but probably Iran is more important than the future of your children that will not be long for the disaster to come, this is how Rome fell, the center was neglected in order to expand and strengthen borders , this is also what happens with the USA, the center is neglected because of wars thousands of kilometers away from them
my son:
Thanks for the invite but I guess if you've been following then you've also noticed the wars I get into as a result of not giving in to people trying to mislead the public.
These wars are already sucking all the juice out of me and I imagine that on a site where science is not at the center they will be even more intense.
It may also be that the fact that I am currently a little sick (in fact, I have been struggling for more than a month with sinusitis that does not let up) is affecting my energy level and I promise to think about the issue again when I get better.
Michael
I have subscribed to the scientist since its inception - I have never been a publicist in the fields of the network,
But I have come across your name many times,
According to your responses in science, I understand that your education is broad in the fields of physics
and astrophysics.
I write a series of posts at Cafe de Marker
If you are interested in reading and commenting?
http://cafe.themarker.com/view.php?u=339027
I'd be happy
incidentally:
Lenin also motivated people by promising them a reward.
Those who joined him were those who felt that the Tsar's rule was oppressing them.
This is a completely different situation from the situation in which you call those who are good at giving up their comfort for others.
my son:
Just because I'm discouraged by others doesn't mean I'm not acting myself.
I also think that killing animals is immoral, but I can't do much more than being a vegetarian and talking about it.
Communism does not work with the current (latest) version of the human race and crying about it will do nothing.
What needs to be done is to find ways to make the human race in its current version willing to contribute.
National pride - for example - although it is also a somewhat primitive emotion - actually works and that's why I tried to mobilize it.
In general I usually try to upgrade these feelings to feelings of pride in being human.
The more people we manage to sway with these emotions, the better because the emotion of pride motivates people much better than the conscience.
Michael
The desperation came from your throat
The problem is what is the alternative - to stay at home under a blanket or to join the activity,
There are victories - admittedly not big, but there are - but you have to join the activity in order to
To bring change - internalizing to stop "looking away from events" is also a change,
And maybe this will strengthen solidarity - the Irish could sit at home for another 1000 years
But some of them came out and were ready to sacrifice their lives for independence - the departure of crowds to the streets of Iran to protest
And history is full of countless victories in struggles,
Refers you to the book - 'The Ten Days That Shook the World' - by John Reed
You can learn from the book enormous insights into how processes gain momentum in such a short time,
So that I won't be considered biased, I'll just give you the example - (before the last economic crisis)
of professional economic analysts and heads of state who have woven and built piles of praise
For the free world and its resilience - how do all these brilliant analyzes look today?
In any case, sharp questions should be directed to all those who raise millions, where were they a year ago,
A decade ago - why weren't millions poured in to improve life in Haiti or elsewhere?
After all, the next story is already on the wall - a difficult monsoon year (not an earthquake or a tsunami that is difficult to predict)
In the Indian subcontinent and the number of casualties in Haiti will be nothing compared to the number of casualties in Bangladesh
In any case, thank you for clarifying my words - maybe it was not written well enough.
In fact, the impressive integration of the State of Israel in the aid activity arouses great pride in me.
I also agree with the comparison to the holocaust which I think Ghost did not understand: my son claimed that the Jews were massacred because of people who reacted to their holocaust the way you react to the disaster in Haiti and not that they were saved because people reacted the way a human being is expected to react.
However, it seems to me that the slogan about different distribution of capital is nothing but a slogan and has no possible operative application.
There is no way to motivate people without guaranteeing them a return (a ghost is a good example of this) and therefore all communist frameworks also collapsed in the end.
Altruism will probably remain a trait of the few.
To pardon
Has been a mistake
I meant the Mayans, not the Incas
Hanan
You are right and the book does find, albeit not everything.
But the book ignores as scientists do - in essence,
I wrote a different distribution of the resources available on this planet
and channeling capital in a significant way throughout human history for the benefit of the whole and not for the benefit of individuals.
The never-ending appetite of ancient rulers and contemporary capitalists create and push the system
to the limit -
The Inca rulers built magnificent pyramids and cut down huge amounts of wood just to fry white plaster
For the outer covering - something that was followed by the destruction of the soil, the ecology, diseases and the collapse of culture.
90% of the capital in the world is invested in making more capital ……..
If the method was to return all this capital for the benefit of people - maybe we wouldn't be remembered for 150 years
Too late we are regularly polluting and washing away this planet.
I recommend to all those who are thirsty for knowledge to read Grad Dimond's book "Collapse" in which he explains why Haiti got where it did in contrast to the Demonic Republic that resides on the same island.
A satellite image on "Google" will explain it nicely.
L: From Shahar: "I did not find a connection between the title and the content"
It is not written explicitly, but the intention is absolutely clear.
I will put it this way:
Social backwardness inevitably also leads to cultural and technological backwardness
It manifests itself, among other things, in the construction of low-quality houses and a lack of social organization and technological equipment that allows assistance to victims during mass disasters.
Is it possible to think that the Jews were saved because they were helped? Or they were finally helped after Hitler attacked Great Britain, Russia and the USA and they fought him and on the way took Jews out of the ghetto.
The arrogance of the Israelis (emphasis on Israelis, not Jews) today to push themselves into every corner and help even those who did not ask Israel for help and will not help in the future, so that they will love Israel, is nauseating.
Let them deal with the existential problems of our country instead of others. You might think our situation is better,
As if Nasrallah is already dead.
For Yossi Shachar and the ghost
It is too short to describe how - just saying - a different distribution of the existing resources on this planet
and channeling capital in a significant way throughout human history for the good of the whole and not for the benefit of individuals,
would lay in Haiti and other places better foundations for protection from natural hazards,
The USA is a country flooded with natural disasters - have you ever heard of tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths?
Japan - a country with a shocking past of injury to the soul as a result of natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.)
It invested and invests a huge fortune in fundamental changes in the theoretical concept and in practice in the protection of the citizens.
And finally, your comment (ghost) takes me back to the Jewish holocaust that the whole world said
What do I care what happens in Germany, I don't have enough problems of my own?
throughout the entire country
What do you care about people from Haiti? Are the problems over in your country?
Shahar is fine it happens many times on this site. you are not alone.
I found no connection between the title and the content
Very shocking, but what exactly do you expect the world to do?
And oh shocking.
And now hundreds of thousands of people will die there (in addition to those who have already died), due to the logistical problems involved in the rehabilitation of the survivors. But no one will hear about it, because poverty, hunger, disease and other hardships exist everywhere in the world.